BLOG TOUR: This Disunited Kingdom by Leslie J. Nicholls

Welcome to my stop on This Disunited Kingdom BLOG TOUR! Please do yourself a favor and take the time to read about this fascinating political thriller. An excerpt, author guest post and an author Q&A is provided below. (I LOVED the answers he gave - the funniest thing that's happened to him recently made me LOL!)

It's the early 2020s and the UK has successfully withdrawn from the European Union and immigration laws are tight. Scotland has become independent, and the home nation is under the rule of a Conservative/UKIP coalition that has introduced radical reforms, which are robustly efficient in running the country. It seems that the UK has never been in a better position - until suddenly, two catastrophic bombings in central London shake the country to its very core.

Investigators Farah Karim and Sean Lakin are on a mission to get to the bottom of the intent behind these two attacks; are they simply a resurgence of the acts of terrorism that haven't touched the country in years? Or is there a new and deeper conspiracy emerging?

Farah and Sean find themselves entangled in a dangerous guessing game where their personal lives come under fire and the lives of thousands lay tenuously in their hands.

Leslie J Nicholls: The new
Nostradamus or Fall-Guy Fawkes?

It should
be the aim of every published author to provoke thought and debate but rarely
has a new work of fiction divided opinion with such passion as Leslie J
Nicholls’ political thriller This Disunited Kingdom.

Numerous
reviewers have proclaimed him the new Nostradamus whilst a few social media
posts have declared that he prompted Brexit, promoted terrorist attacks and
fuelled hate crimes. One suggested that he is the greatest threat to Parliamentary
Democracy since Guy Fawkes. Others have
just marvelled that such a cracking read is the work of a novice writer.

An historic
House of Commons vote last month gave Government permission to trigger Article
50, paving the way for Britain to leave the European Union. The process began in
February 2016, David Cameron announced that the nation would be allowed to vote
on EU membership. By that time, the explosive new thriller by debutant author,
Leslie J Nicholls was rolling off the printing presses, having been written six
months before the referendum had even been announced. In June, the nation voted
out and the rest is history, and this book is history in the making.

Already,
reviewers of this astonishing work are pointing to a series of amazing revelations
and prophecies that continue to stun its readers with every news bulletin. Here
are just some of the events detailed within this remarkable piece of fiction.

• It’s the early 2020's and Britain
has left the EU

• Scotland has left Britain but wants
to return

• The country is governed by a
Conservative and UKIP coalition.

• The Labour and Liberal parties are
protest groups rather than serious Political Parties.

• There is a growing call for IBIS:
an Independent British Islam State within the Kingdom.

• Civil war is looming in Ireland
with the North within the UK and the Republic in the EU

• Brutal turf wars with the Poles,
Ukrainians, and Romanians marking out their territories

• The reduction in migrant labour has
placed pressure upon resources in the Public sector

• The government has withdrawn
Welfare benefits for those that refuse to work

• The UK is fighting on three fronts
in the Middle East and military resources are stretched

• An EU Army is threatening our
security and independence.

• European countries are jealous of
our independent prosperity and conspire against us.

• Cracks are appearing in our
Diplomatic and Trade Relations with the U.S.A.

• The UK is forging closer links with
the wider world and China is our new best friend.

• A series of terrorist incidents
have rocked London and other Europe cities.

• The race is now on to prevent the
next one……… THE BIG ONE

When asked
to comment upon those polarised reviews, Nicholls could hardly conceal his
delight that he had managed to provoke such passionate debate. “I am not a
politician, nor a journalist, economist or psychologist. I am just a creative
scribbler with an active interest in current affairs. I really didn’t need a
crystal ball to foresee the maelstrom of mayhem and chaos about to be unleashed
at home and abroad over the next decade.”

As a work
of fiction, THIS DISUNITED KINGDOM, is set to become a contemporary classic. As
a commentary on the economic, social and political landscape, even the author
has been surprised that it has proven to be so prescient. He must now hope that
not all of his predictions come to pass.

Author Q&A: Let's learn a bit about the face behind the book!

What does your writing process look like?

I'm a pretty
structured writer. I set out with a clear view of the beginning, the end and
the various sub plots and themes that make up the middle. I systematically
weave the strands into a formatted template before working on the narrative. I
then let the left brain take over in to develop the plot and characterisation.

What is the most difficult part of your writing process? Your writing
Kryptonite?

I constantly
challenge the credibility of my characters and their actions. Though coincidence and serendipity are
features of life, I avoid them in my writing. Every passage and incident must
be totally plausible and able to stand the test of the most intense, rational
scrutiny.

How many hours a day do you write?

On the days that I
write, I will spend between six and eight hours in front of my laptop. I only
write on the days that I feel creatively in tune with the manuscript. I don’t
force myself to deliver words to meet arbitrary targets. That doesn't mean I
sit idly aside. I frequently use those other days for research, review and
reflection.

Do you have any strange writing habits?

Before committing
my fingers to the keyboard in complex scenarios I will frequently lie awake in
bed, visualising actions, outcomes and exchanging silent dialogue. Occasionally
I am not as silent as I think I am and get accused of sleep talking.

What is your least favourite part of the writing / publishing process? Favourite
part?

My least favourite
part is the review, editing and proof reading. My favourite part is possessing
the power to create those shocking outcomes that amuse, amaze and often offend.
It’s an awesome feeling to wipe out
hundreds of human beings by a few clicks of a keypad.

Is there one particular subject you would never write about as an
author? What is it?

There is no subject
that I would consider off limits from a sensitivity perspective but there are
certain genres that I would never embark upon.

Is there a type of scene that's harder for you to write than others?

I find sex scenes
incredibly difficult to write as I always envisage that friends and family will
imagine that I’m writing from experience.

Does a big ego help or hurt writers?

I believe that a
big ego might help the writer but it won't necessarily do the reader many
favours.

What was an early experience where you learned that language had power?

As a five year old
I discovered that certain words used in certain sequences made similar sounds. I seemed to develop a natural tendency to
think in rhyme and became very popular at parties and school events.

How many unpublished/half-finished books do you have?

I have two complete
volumes of obscene and bad taste poems and monologues that might now scrape
past publishing legislation but will still challenge perceptions of accepted
decency. In my teens I considered myself to be the original Punk Poet and the
antidote to Pam Ayres.

I am currently
writing a romantic, mystery, psychological crime thriller set on a round world
cruise ship voyage. The research was fascinating.

For my next
project, I have been challenged to write a Sitcom.

If you could cast the characters of this book for a movie, who would
play your characters?

I recently met Dean
Andrews, best known from Life on Mars, and he would make my perfect Detective
Chief Inspector Sean Lakin. I always visualised Indira Varma as Farah Karim,
beautiful, assertive but slightly vulnerable. Raza Jaffrey would be my Adnan
Abadi and I wonder if Nigel Farage would be interested in forging a new career,
playing Neil Faraday, my deputy Prime Minister and UKIP Leader?

Do you read your reviews? Do you respond to them, good or bad? Any
advice on how to deal with the bad?

Yes, of course I
read reviews and respond whenever I can. I have only ever read two, marginally
negative reviews. The first commented that I had repeated too much detail in a
political thriller and, on reflection, the reviewer may have had a point. I
also learned a valuable lesson from another reviewer who told me that I had not
given a sufficient physical description of a key character which made it
difficult to relate to him!

If people care
enough to write a review, it would be disrespectful and potentially harmful,
not to read it. If a review were REALLY bad, I would console myself in the fact
that I hate the work of James Patterson, possibly the most successful author on
the planet. Not all good writers are successful and not all successful writers
are good.

If you didn't like writing books, what would you do for a living?

I would go back to
my previous career in Sales and Marketing within the Drinks Industry. My
colleagues considered much of this to have been a work of fiction.

What's the best money you ever spent as a writer?

My recent fare on a
three-week cruise researching my current novel. I have cruised previously but
surprised myself by stripping back the veneer of unashamed luxury and
relaxation and recognising that the cruise ship, is, in fact, a floating hotel,
kitchen, and Retail Park in which bad things can happen to good people.

Have you ever gotten reader's block? How did you get out of it? (And
yes, I meant readers) :D

Yes, I have had
reader's block when battling with chapter upon chapter of technical spam in a
political thriller. I am convinced that the author simply cut and pasted a
whole manual from an armaments website. I got out of it by throwing the book
over my balcony into the Atlantic Ocean. Apologies are due to both Tom Clancy
and the Maritime Environmental Organisation but my sense of relief and release
was immense.

Do you google yourself?

Doesn't everybody?
I always look forward to what I find despite the fact that I probably posted
most of it myself.

As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal?

I guess I would commission
a designer to create a great big Angry Owl. I believe that a contemporary,
political thriller writer needs the capacity for Anger and the Wisdom to
harness and channel it.

What literary character is most like you?

I actually am a
reincarnation of Heathcliff: A handsome, brooding, tortured and dangerous deep
thinker who never quite realised his potential.

What authors have inspired you?

The first adult
novel I ever bought was The Virgin Soldiers by Leslie Thomas when I was
thirteen. Gerald Seymour has inspired and educated me by setting political
thrillers in virtually every conflict ever encountered in modern history. I
learned much from Robert Ludlum and Frederick Forsythe and spent many happy
holidays recently in the comfortable company of Harlan Coben, David Baldacci
and Lynwood Barclay.

What's one piece of advice you have received that has always resonated
with you?

Never tell anyone
your problems. Eighty per cent of people couldn't care less and the other
twenty per cent are probably glad.

What's the funniest thing that has happened to you recently?

After a very long
reunion dinner that began just after lunch and ended only a few hours before
breakfast, I retired to my hotel room, undressed and collapsed onto my bed.
Answering the inevitable dawn call of nature, I pulled open the bathroom door
which promptly slammed behind me as I found myself stood, stark naked, in the
corridor on the tenth floor. At the time, the night porter seemed to find this
far funnier than I did though I can now smile, grudgingly at the embarrassing
memory. He might not have found it quite so funny had he discovered how and
where I had found relief.

Leslie J. Nicholls

Leslie J. Nicholls has always held an inquisitive, borderline cynical, interest in the politics, morals and motivations of governments and their politicians. As an avid observer of current affairs, national and international news he has developed an uncanny knack of predicting unfolding world events. Political writers like Gerald Seymour, Frederick Forsythe, Robert Ludlum and Sebastian Foulkes have inspired Nicholls to abandon a successful career in Sales and marketing to express this interest creatively in the publication of This Disunited Kingdom, a political thriller with a prophetic vision of post Brexit Britain.

EXCERPT!

Chapter 3

(This
extract outlines the political, economic and social climate in the UK in the
immediacy of BREXIT )

Back in Downing
Street, Prime Minister Mitchell was still struggling to watch the distressing
live feeds on his news screen as Janet, his personal assistant, ushered in John
Gemmell, the Chancellor, who, at fifty-three, pencil thin with rimless glasses
perched upon a slender crooked nose, looked every inch of the part.

Despite the numerous and significant social
difficulties that the country might be facing, the economy was in its strongest
position since the heady days of the Thatcher regime. The pound had never been
stronger against the euro. Back in 2016 when Greece ditched the currency and
defaulted on its European debt, the pound was worth one point two euros. Now a
visitor would have to pay almost two euros for one of the much-coveted English
pounds and there were still many members of the European State that were
desperate to do so. English exports to Europe had, of course, become
significantly more expensive, but since the British withdrawal from Europe in
2018, the Americas, Far East and China had become their most significant trade
partners. Scotland were still in the European Union so it was still possible to
sneak some of those rarer French wines and German sausages across Hadrian’s
Wall but it was considered to be a most unpatriotic practice.

The first
few years out of Europe were hard as the British in general and the English in
particular had to find new markets for their exports. They were forced to do so
whilst rebuilding their own agricultural and manufacturing base to produce all
those goods that for the previous forty years had travelled over or under the
sea, further lining the pockets of the corrupt Europeans who controlled the
shipping lanes and transportation systems, as well as the goods they carried.
The immediate removal of restrictive laws and trade practices made the
restoration of the rural and industrial infrastructure much faster and less
painful that anyone could have imagined, aided, crucially, by substantial
investment from their new allies in China. Over sixty percent of English
electricity was now generated by Chinese-owned nuclear reactors.

Unemployment
was decimated and the government of the day congratulated itself on the
decision not to have repatriated the wave of Eastern European migrants that had
fled the abject poverty within their own flawed and failed political
flirtations with the European Super state. Such was the demand for labour in
the fields, factories and offices that unemployment and welfare benefits were
virtually withdrawn as anyone who wanted to work could do so and those who
didn’t were made to.

Not all of
the former British Isles shared this meteoric economic recovery. Britain’s
departure from Europe coincided with the second Scottish devolution vote which,
this time, opened the vote to both English and Scots. The criteria for the
declaration of independence demanded that either fifty one percent of the
Scottish electorate voted for separation or a minimum of thirty percent of the
combined population. Both criterion were comfortably exceeded and the Scots heralded
their independence in a blaze of tartan clad, malt fuelled exuberance.

Scotland was welcomed, open armed, into the European Union
immediately. They were wooed by a more accessible market for their oil and some
misguided perception of economic and national security. The economic implosion
of Scotland was heralded two years following independence with the almost
complete collapse of the North Sea Oil Industry. Decline in global
manufacturing had led to dramatic downturns in consumption. This was exacerbated
by the Confederation of Muslim States or, as it was then known, ISIS, gaining
control of a large proportion of the Middle East’s oil fields and flooding the
market with cheap oil to fuel their armament costs and, simultaneously
destabilising Western economies. The rapid development of fracking technology
spread quickly from North West England throughout the country to the point at
which the country became not just self-sufficient, but a significant fuel
exporter. This, inevitably, fuelled tension between the two nations.

2 comments:

As a debutant author, I am not sure of the etiquette and protocol in responding to reviews and blogs but hey, what's the worst that can happen? Thank you so much for taking the time and effort to feature my work on your fascinating site. As you know, most authors outside the top ten best sellers, struggle to generate awareness for their work so it is really gratifying that good people like yourself find time to support us. Hope you enjoyed the book as much as you enjoyed my tale of "light relief!"Best Regards, Leslie J Nicholls. ( Not quite so Angry, still near Accrington!)